Intelligent Design

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT INTELLIGENT DESIGN

Ferryman is an exemplary guy who got caught I read Steve Smith's columns. Sometimes I think they're very, very slanted, but that's the way he writes. I'm questioning the statement (Family Time -- "Here's a pitch for setting good examples," Jan. 19), "On Oct. 9, Ferryman told us that his first reaction after his arrest on Sept. 27 was to resign. I believe him. Subsequently, however, he listened to a little band of followers." I doubt if he listened to anybody; I think he did what is in his heart -- "who did not have our children's best interests in mind."

Plainview, Kan., exists in Catherine Trieschmann's imagination. But the playwright is no stranger to the actual fertile flatlands of the Great Plains, the threat of tornadoes that hangs above the American heartland's sky and its charged social issues. All of this inspired her to pen "How the World Began," a one-act drama set in that fictional town that will make its global debut Friday night at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa. For six years, Trieschmann and her husband have lived in the real town of Hays, Kan., halfway between Kansas City and Denver.

o7Five students from the Calvary Chapel Christian School of Murrieta and the Assn. of Christian Schools International filed a lawsuit last week against the University of California system, charging that the university's new core class requirements discriminate against the high school's courses. According to the suit, the university informed the high school that two of its biology textbooks were "not consistent with the viewpoints and knowledge generally accepted in the scientific community."

JOSEPH N. BELL I'm an avid reader of the In Theory columns on the Forum page of the Daily Pilot. Although Rabbi Mark Miller is the only member of the contributing group I've related to directly, I feel I know the others through their writings. I play this little game of predicting where each one will come down on any given subject. And the pleasure of the game is that they aren't always predictable. Mostly, but not always. It has occurred to me that what is missing from this spectrum of opinion is the secular view.

Though we didn't endorse every winner in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District race, we were pleased that the school board campaign was pretty clean. Now, for the most part, school board trustees should be happy with one another. In the past, and until the new members come on board in January, the board majority has been dissatisfied with one member -- Wendy Leece. Leece hasn't always won us over, either. After all, she's into banning books and teaching students the Intelligent Design theory.

I'd like to respond to Joseph N. Bell's column from Feb. 14 (The Bell Curve -- "Answering the creationist challenge"). Interesting how almost every time Joe Bell writes, he seems to take a few potshots at trustee Wendy Leece and the "Creationist/Fundamentalist" camp. Bell paints Leece out to be an uninformed and unenlightened person. Again, a real cheap shot. We all have our faults, but he's too harsh on Leece. As for again "clearing up" the conflict between the teaching of evolution and creationism (intelligent design)

public schools Who's that lurking by the back door of the schoolhouse? It's Wendy Leece! She's put white lab coats on the religious icons from her church and is trying to sneak them into school disguised as science teachers (figuratively speaking, of course). Leece, in her letter ("Educators should be able to challenge evolutionary theory," Jan. 11), fails to respond to any of the points I made in my prior letter ("Creationism should not be taught as a science," Jan. 9)

Cleaning out the must-do clipping file in order to start the new year afresh: First, a letter on the Pilot's Forum page last month from former Newport Beach Mayor John Heffernan with a headline "A challenge for Greenlight." It is a classic example of how Heffernan comported himself as mayor: respectful, clear and well reasoned. It avoided the repetition, overwriting, and self-justification so common to similar pieces from local politicians -- especially the current crop in Costa Mesa.

SPECIAL EVENTS ZEN PRACTICE Six classes on the Zen practice will be presented by the Zen Center of Orange County beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday at 120 E. 18th St., Costa Mesa. Classes will meet at 2 p.m. on consecutive Sundays through June 18. Classes will cover presentations, sitting, handouts, discussion, exercises and videos. Admission for nonmembers is $120. For more information, call (949) 722-7818. CHANCEL CHOIR TO PERFORM The Chancel Choir will perform at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church at 9:15 a.m. on Sundays.